BETHESDA, MARYLAND--On Tuesday night, ABC-TV ran a powerful
one-hour special report from reporter/anchor Bob Woodruff, about the traumatic
brain injury he sustained while covering the war in Iraq, his ongoing
rehabilitation process, and how injured veterans and their families are finding
out the hard way that the U.S. government is overwhelmed by the sheer volume of
unseen, "closed-head" brain injuries.

Woodruff was severely injured in January 2006 by a roadside bomb blast.
The report starts with an account of that blast, followed by the immediate
medical treatment he received, his 36 day coma, and the rehabilitation
therapies that followed.

Woodruff, along with many of the surgeons and rehabilitation specialists
that worked with him, feels that he was extremely lucky -- that he represents a
small percentage of those who recover most of their earlier functioning
levels.

During and after his time in the hospital, Woodruff learned that the new
weapons being used in the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq,
particularly the improvised explosive device or IED, are causing an
unprecedented number of closed-head brain injuries among soldiers and Marines.
Some experts that Woodruff interviewed estimated that as much 10 percent of the
more than 1.5 million military personnel -- or 150,0000 troops -- that have
served since 2001 have sustained some sort of head trauma.

Department of Defense officials, on the other hand, say that just 1,835
have been treated for traumatic brain injuries.

Some critics speculate that the low estimate could be because there
usually are no signs of external trauma, such as shrapnel or bullet wounds.
Others suggest the Bush administration is trying to hide the true extent of
these long-term disabilities, and go so far as to say that the military has
resorted to using gag orders -- telling those involved to keep quiet about the
issue.

At any rate, as Woodruff reports, Veterans Affairs hospitals are finding
that they are not equipped to adequately treat those whose wounds are not
visible.

Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from the state of Washington whose
father served in World War II, appeared on the floor of the Senate, to urge her
colleagues to watch Woodruff's report and to pay more attention to injured
veterans.

By Wednesday, Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson was responding
with a number of television appearances of his own, saying that from now on all
service members that come in "with a sore foot or hand or need eye or dental
care" would now be screened for TBI.

For those who missed the program, Woodruff's entire report is available
online.